Investigation Of E. Coli Illness Focuses On Bethel

Health authorities, seeking the source of an apparent outbreak of E. coli bacteria, focused their attention Friday on Bethel, where seven of 12 reported cases occurred.

Matthew Cartter, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Public Health and Addiction Services, said a second round of interviews was being conducted with the 12 people, all of whom came down with the intestinal illness caused by a potentially deadly strain of E. coli.

While the 12 people had not visited a common restaurant, some of them had shopped at the same store in Bethel, Cartter said. He declined to specify how many, and stressed that state and local officials still do not have a theory about how the apparent epidemic began.

Contaminated ground beef is the first thing to come to mind when an E. coli outbreak occurs, Cartter said. But, he said, it may be time ``to look at what other foods may have been potentially contaminated.''

The search for a source may take a week or more, he said.

No new cases have been reported since the 12th person fell ill a week ago. All 12 people live in the Bethel- Danbury area.